Shajilov stayed in the headquarters of the 756 regiment for an hour before the tank brigade commander walked in with a soldier.

   "Comrade Colonel," Shadilov looked at the tank brigade commander and said blankly, "Your troops are late!"

"No way, Comrade General." The tank brigade commander shrugged his shoulders, spread his hands, and said helplessly: "The road is either bomb craters or bricks and rubble, so our tanks have to slow down when driving. Finally The headache is that no one can tell if there are German anti-tank fighters hiding in those ruins. On the way I came here, at least eight tanks were killed by German anti-tank fighters."

Shadilov did not care about the number of casualties of the tank brigade, he only cared about whether the other party was still capable of combat: "Comrade Colonel, please tell me truthfully, how many tanks can you still invest? What I need is accurate figures, and Not an estimate."

"There are 38 tanks that can still be used today, all of which are T-34/85 tanks." The tank brigade commander said: "The task I received is to cover you with artillery fire to seize the Capitol. Comrade General, what should I do?" Do, please give the order."

   Shajilov took the tank brigade commander to the side where he could see the Capitol, ready to let him see the situation ahead.

The tank brigade commander saw that the glass of all the windows was shattered, and the walls in some places were even blown into gaps of various sizes. He couldn't help shaking his head and said, "It seems that the battle to seize this place is really fierce." With that said, he was about to walk towards the hole in the wall closest to him.

Unexpectedly, before he walked over, he grabbed Shadilov: "Comrade Colonel, be careful, don't get too close to the hole in the wall. There are German snipers in the nearby buildings. I saw someone appearing at the window or the hole." , they will shoot, and we have already had five or six soldiers shot by them."

  Hearing that there were German snipers in the nearby buildings, the tank brigade commander was taken aback and stood still, not daring to move. In the end, Shadilov pulled him to a hole in the wall.

Shadilov raised his hand and turned the brim of his big-brimmed hat to the back of his head, quickly poked his head out for a look, then retracted his head, and said to the tank brigade commander: "Colonel, you can see the German Reichstag from here." ...Although the possibility of this position being hit by a German sniper is relatively small, you still have to be careful when you poke your head out."

  The tank brigade commander nodded, slowly poked his head out, looked towards the Capitol in the distance, and carefully observed what he wanted to know.

  After the tank brigade commander retracted his head, he heard Shadilov say: "Comrade Colonel, have you seen it clearly?"

"Well, I took a general look." The tank brigade commander nodded, and then said: "The windows on the wall facing us are all blocked by bricks and stones, and have been changed into shooting holes. Once you When charging, the enemy can pass through these firing holes and block your way with firepower, causing you huge casualties."

"You are right, Comrade Colonel." Shadilov agreed with the statement of the tank brigade commander: "When the 171st Division launched an attack on the Capitol, it was not only hit by artillery fire from the roof, but more importantly, They finally rushed into the blind spot of the artillery, but they were hit by intensive machine gun fire, which led to the failure of the attack. However, after their attack failed, the commander had already requested the air force to attack and destroyed the artillery positions deployed by the German army on the roof At the same time, the heavy artillery unit of the group army was also used to blast several gaps in the wall of the Capitol, so that our commanders and fighters could rush into the building through these gaps."

"Comrade General, before I came here, I was quite worried. I was worried that you would let us use artillery fire to open a few gaps in the front wall of the Capitol, because the artillery of our tanks is simply not enough to complete such a task." Tank Brigade Chang said: "Now that the wall has been blasted by heavy artillery, our task is much simpler. We only need to bombard the windows sealed with bricks and stones, destroy the enemy's firepower, and cover your soldiers from rushing in." the Houses of Parliament."

   "That's right, that's how it is." Shadilov waited for the tank brigade commander to finish speaking, nodded, and said with satisfaction: "Just follow what you said."

"Comrade General, in order to facilitate the coordination of our two armies." The tank brigade commander called his subordinates who came with him, and said to Shadilov: "This is my radio operator. Let him follow the commander of the assault force. If you need anything, you can contact me through the radio in time."

"Comrade Colonel, you are very thoughtful." Shadilov said with a smile: "I was still worried that if the troops entering the Capitol want to get your support, they need to call the regiment or division headquarters first, and then We will contact you again. If we do this, we will inevitably delay the fighter plane. Since you send a radio operator to follow the commander of the assault force, then the troops entering the building can call for your artillery support at any time."

  When the offensive began, although it was already dark, the fires from the burning buildings everywhere were enough to illuminate the way for the commanders and fighters to attack.

   With a red flare flying into the air, it means the attack has officially started.

  Thousands of commanders and fighters rushed to the Capitol from all directions. Since the artillery position on the roof was destroyed, there was no blocking fire from large-caliber artillery, and the offensive troops quickly entered the square in front of the building. The German machine guns opened fire, blocking the way of the infantry with intensive firepower. Two mortars arranged in a hole in the wall fired at the approaching Soviet troops.

   Standing in the observation post, Shadilov watched the situation on the battlefield with a telescope. When he saw the scene where a mortar bomb fell in the attacking queue and exploded, blowing up several commanders and fighters, he stomped his feet anxiously, wishing he could immediately order the artillery to fire and destroy the German mortars. But after thinking about it, the attacking troops were already approaching the Capitol. If they fired at this moment, they might inevitably cause accidental injuries, so he had to give up such thoughts.

  The next moment, he saw several soldiers who were charging, and suddenly fell down on the spot. Just when he was wondering, he saw a cannonball explode not far away, and the rubble kicked up by the air wave scattered in all directions, and some even hit the soldiers. Before the gunpowder smoke cleared, the soldiers got up from the ground one after another, and charged forward with their guns in hand.

  However, Shadilov saw a soldier who was the first to get down, raised his head, propped his elbows on the ground and stretched half of his body, trying to stand up from the ground. But unfortunately, he didn't succeed, and when he fell heavily to the ground, there was no more movement. Shadilov didn't know whether he was injured by the shell fragments just now, or was hit by a bullet from the Capitol when he got up, anyway, the soldier was lying there motionless.

  The commanders and fighters who rushed past the square rushed in along the steps. But the enemy's firepower was too fierce. Every time they took a step forward, several soldiers would fall on the steps, some were only injured, and some gave their young lives. Although the soldiers in front kept falling down, the soldiers behind still rushed forward without hesitation. However, when they climbed the steps, they still tried their best to avoid the soldiers who fell on the steps so as not to step on them.

  Seeing groups of soldiers rushing into the Capitol, Shadilov secretly heaved a sigh of relief. As long as the troops entered the building, the shooting holes facing the square would soon be useless under the attack of the soldiers. All that remains is to see how long it will take your troops to take down the Capitol.

   Half an hour later, the commander of the assault battalion asked the operator of the tank brigade to report to Colonel Zinchenko, the head of the 756 regiment: "Comrade commander, the assault battalion has captured the second floor of the Capitol!"

When Zinchenko heard this, it was good news. He quickly connected the division headquarters and told Shadilov the report of the commander of the assault battalion: "Comrade commander, the assault battalion has captured the second floor of the Capitol. Attack on the third floor and advance!"

   "The second floor has been captured." Shadilov felt that the troops' attack speed was faster than he imagined, and he couldn't help saying with relief: "The assault battalion is really good."

After putting down the phone, Shatilov bypassed the corps commander and reported directly to Army Commander Kuznetsov: "Comrade Commander, the head of the 756th Regiment has reported to me that his assault battalion has successfully captured the second floor of the Capitol. The third floor is being attacked."

Originally thought that after his report was over, Kuznetsov would praise him a few words, but he frowned and said, "What, did you take down the second floor? General Shadilov, your progress is too slow! Where is the No. 5 assault flag I gave you? Get someone to put it on the roof of the building quickly!"

  Although Kuznetsov criticized the progress of the 150th Division for being too slow, he secretly rejoiced in his heart. After spending so much time, the troops finally rushed into the Capitol and occupied the second floor at the same time. He decided to report the good news to Marshal Zhukov, the commander of the front army, and wanted to hear what the other party thought.

Unexpectedly, as soon as he finished his report, Zhukov said in a stern tone: "What, you only occupied the second floor? General Kuznetsov, your speed is too slow, it is too slow. According to your plan I am afraid that it is impossible to occupy the Capitol before dark today."

   Kuznetsov, who was criticized, said with a wry smile: "Understood, Comrade Marshal, I will greet General Shajilov and ask them to speed up their attack. They must take the Capitol before dark."

  After Zhukov finished talking with Kuznetsov, he thought that Stalin, who was far away in Moscow, had been waiting for the news that the troops had rushed into the Capitol. The time was ripe, and he could tell him. He called the director of the communications corps and told the other party: "Comrade director of the communications corps, connect me to the Kremlin immediately. I want to talk to Comrade Stalin."

  The news that the Soviet army rushed into the Capitol quickly spread to the bunker.

  Two days ago, the mustache, which was still rejoicing over Roosevelt's death two days ago, completely disappeared like a deflated rubber ball. He knew very well that the Reichstag was the highest symbol of Germany, and once it fell, it would deal a fatal blow to the morale of the defenders who were still fighting in Berlin at the moment.

  After much deliberation, Mustache finally made a difficult decision. After a hasty wedding with Eva, he shot himself after taking poison. Before he died, he confessed to his adjutant that he must not let the Russians get his body.

  The senior officers in the bunker carried the bodies of the mustache couple out of the bunker, put them into a bomb crater at the door, poured gasoline on them and set them on fire. Before the corpses were burnt clean, Soviet artillery shells fell nearby and exploded. The senior officers panicked and hid in the bunker.

But Zhukov, as the supreme commander of the Soviet Army, was not clear about all this. He was talking to Marshal Konev at the moment, and asked him about the details of the meeting between the First Ukrainian Front Army and the U.S. Army. The thing about attacking the Capitol.

After waiting for Zhukov to finish speaking, Konev said to Zhukov: "Comrade Marshal, I don't think it is worth using the lives of our soldiers to capture this building. We can use powerful artillery fire to destroy this **** building." Everything will be razed to the ground, and those Germans who hold on to it will also be wiped out."

"Marshal Konev," Zhukov explained to him after listening to Konev's words: "According to my original idea, I also wanted to raze the Reichstag to the ground by shelling and bombing. But my campaign to attack Berlin has just begun. Comrade Stalin called me personally and ordered me to send troops to seize the Reichstag, and it was best not to destroy this building of great significance to the Germans. It was because of his order that I The plan was temporarily changed, the operation to destroy the Capitol was abandoned, and the infantry was used to occupy it."

"So that's the case." After listening to Zhukov's words, Konev finally understood why the other party wanted to seize the Capitol at the cost of a huge sacrifice. He nodded and said sympathetically, "Comrade Marshal, you are right. Since It is an order issued by the Supreme Commander himself, and we as subordinates can only execute it unconditionally."

   Before putting down the phone, Konev suddenly remembered an important thing: "By the way, Comrade Marshal, a general of the US military invited us to their celebration banquet. I wonder if you are interested in participating?"

   "Who?" Zhukov asked back: "Which general of the US military?"

   "General Patton!"

"Oh, General Patton!" Hearing the name Konev said, Zhukov nodded and said approvingly: "He is considered a relatively capable general in the US military. I especially appreciate his words: 'Attack, attack! , We will never defend!' I think what he said is very correct, only by constantly attacking can the enemy be completely defeated."

  Konev didn't expect Zhukov to have such an evaluation of Patton, so he asked tentatively: "Comrade Marshal, will you go to the celebration banquet held by him?"

   "Now that Berlin hasn't been taken, I don't have the heart to attend any celebration banquet." Zhukov muttered, "Let's wait until our army takes Berlin."